USCGC White Bush
History
United States
NameYF-339
BuilderBasalt Rock Co.
CommissionedMay 1944
Decommissioned11 August 1947
ReclassifiedIX-542, 1985
FateTransferred to US Coast Guard, 11 August 1947
History
United States
NameWhite Bush
NamesakeWhite Bush
Acquired11 August 1947
Commissioned1 November 1947
Decommissioned16 September 1985
IdentificationHull number: WAGL-542
ReclassifiedWLM-542, 1960s
HomeportAstoria[1]
Fate
General characteristics
Class and type
Displacement600 t (591 long tons)
Length132 ft 10 in (40.49 m)
Beam30 ft 0 in (9.14 m)
Draft8 ft 9 in (2.67 m)
Installed power
Propulsion
Speed10.5 kn (19.4 km/h; 12.1 mph)
Range
  • 2,450 nmi (4,540 km; 2,820 mi) at 10.5 kn (19.4 km/h; 12.1 mph)
  • 2,830 nmi (5,240 km; 3,260 mi) at 7.5 kn (13.9 km/h; 8.6 mph)
Complement1 warrant, 20 crewmen (1947)

USS YF-339 was an American YF-257-class covered lighter built in 1944 for service in World War II. She was later acquired by the United States Coast Guard and renamed USCGC White Bush (WAGL-542).[2]

Construction and career

YF-339 was built by the Basalt Rock Company, in Napa, California along with 10 other vessels of the same class.  She was commissioned in May 1944 and was used by the Navy as an ammunition carrier, minelayer and general freighter until 1947 when she was decommissioned and transferred to the US Coast Guard on 11 August 1947.  On 1 November 1947 she was formally commissioned as a Coast Guard cutter and was christened White Bush and given the hull designation WAGL-542.  She was then sent to the Coast Guard Yard for to be fitted out as a buoy tender.   Her deck arrangement was converted to include a large derrick to handle buoys and her upper deck was extended.[3]

She was assigned to the 13th Coast Guard District and was home-ported in Astoria, Oregon where she was assigned to service aids to navigation and conduct law enforcement and search and rescue patrols when necessary.  Her primary area of responsibility included Grays Harbor, Washington to Coos Bay, Oregon and she serviced aids to navigation on the Columbia River as well.  Her assignment included servicing 76 lighted buoys, 26 unlighted buoys, 60 lights, and 29 daybeacons.  

On 4 August 1951, she assisted following a collision between the MV Adventure and Tullahoma near Astoria. On 20 December 1951, she helped fight a fire on the MV Erria off Tongue Point.  On 26 December 1951, she assisted the FV Susan.  On 7 May 1952, she repaired a cable to Tillamook Rock.  On 23 September 1954, she repaired a cable to Destruction Island.  From 8 to 9 June 1961, she assisted with flood relief in the Vancouver-Longview area.  While starting out to sea across the Columbia River Bar on 4 December 1963 she encountered three consecutive swells approximately twenty feet high and nearly cresting.  The White Bush stopped her main engines but the "seas rocked and worked her heavily," causing some structural damage.  She returned to her berth to await repairs. In August 1965, she fought a fire on the dredge MacLeod at Vancouver.

In 1972, she had pollution abatement equipment installed at the Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company in Seattle, Washington.  In 1974 she underwent a modernization where her original diesel engines were replaced with new Caterpillar D-353-E diesel engines which had a full load RMP of 1225, driving the shafts at 400 RPM through twin disc reduction gears.  She also had new General Motors 4-71 diesel generators installed and her galley, messing, berthing and living spaces were renovated. On 1 October 1975, she helped fight a dock fire in the Astoria waterfront area.

In 1977, the final phase of her updating and modernization was completed with the removal of her old pilothouse and the installation of a "new, modern, spacious," pilothouse. In May 1977, she was assigned to fisheries enforcement duty off the coast of Oregon that consisted of enforcing government regulations concerning catch limits, gear restrictions and other orders pertaining to the annual salmon catch for both commercial and sport fishermen.

She was decommissioned on 16 September 1985 and returned to the custody of the United States Navy. She was re-designated as IX-542 and laid up in reserve.[4] The ship was sunk as a target on 17 June 2004.[5]

References

  • This article contains public domain text from the United States Coats Guard Historian’s Office website.
  • http://www.uscg.mil/history/WEBCUTTERS/NPS_133_HAER_Report.pdf
  • Cutter History File. USCG Historian's Office, USCG HQ, Washington, D.C.
  • Robert Scheina. U.S. Coast Guard Cutters & Craft, 1946–1990. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1990.
  • U. S. Department of the Interior. National Park Service. U.S. Coast Guard 133-foot (41 m) Buoy Tenders. HAER booklet. Washington, DC: National Park Service, February, 2004. [ HAER no. DC-57; Todd Croteau, HAER Industrial Archeologist (project leader); Jet Low, HAER Photographer; Mark Porter, NCSHPO Consultant (historian), and Candace Clifford, booklet design. ]
  1. ↑ Enlisted Billet Manual. U.S. Department of Transportation. 17 September 1985. pp. 2–91. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  2. ↑ "White Bush, 1947". United States Coast Guard. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
  3. ↑ "Miscellaneous Photo Index". www.navsource.org. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
  4. ↑ W. Sayers, Ken (23 May 2019). U.S. Navy Auxiliary Vessels: A History and Directory from World War I to Today. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. p. 338. ISBN 978-1476635323.
  5. ↑ Silverstone, Paul (2009). The Navy of the Nuclear Age, 1947–2007. New York City: Routledge, 2011. pp. Tenders 193. ISBN 978-1135864668.
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